Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Michael D. Robinson writes, “Years ago, I read a quotation: “Every time a physician is called a provider and a patient is called a consumer, an angel dies.” The Internet offers vague allusions to a novel and a columnist, but I couldn’t find a source that includes both parts of the quotation. I have vague memories of the late Uwe Reinhardt, a healthcare economist, as the author, but my Internet search doesn’t support that. Please advise.”

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138 or chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Related topics

You might also like

The Year a Beat Poet Squatted at Harvard

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

How Adam Ehrlich Sachs Writes Absurd and Beautiful Fiction

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

Tara Menon’s Debut Novel Combines Friendship, Grief, and Climate Disaster

The popular Harvard English professor published Under Water this spring.

Most popular

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Three Harvard Alumni and a Former Postdoc Named MacArthur Fellows

A labor economist, an organic chemist, a physicist, and a memory researcher were honored with 2026 “genius” grants.

Harvard Stabilizes Finances With Strong Endowment Returns, Philanthropy

Small operating surplus is dwarfed by reduced federal research support and endowment tax liabilities.

Explore More From Current Issue

Collage of three photos of an athlete in a triathlon: one swimming, one cycling, one running, in sports attire.

The Harvard triathlete and coach says she helps normal people to “do extraordinary things.”

Delicate green cocoa pods and small white flowers on a tree branch, surrounded by soft greenery.

Harvard researchers investigate climate’s impact on cocoa crops, innovations in nasal vaccines, and links between pain and skull marrow.

Panoramic view of Harvard University with autumn foliage and a river under a cloudy sky.

The University is expanding industry ties and investing its own funds to support research, but neither will replace lost federal dollars.